


Strangers in the Shadows

by BryceWrites



Series: Broken Measures [18]
Category: Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Aftermath, Angst, Better Horizons, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, Definitely made you think he was, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Help, Helpless, Hurt/Comfort, Kelsi Dixon - Freeform, Lost - Freeform, Sad, Sadness, Sappy, Terminus, Terminus (The Walking Dead), and it feels so good, because that's how i roll, better days, but he's not, guess who isn't dead, hopeful, hopeless, reunited, sap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 13:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16409027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BryceWrites/pseuds/BryceWrites
Summary: Kelsi is still feeling lost in the aftermath of the Prison falling, but Chibs isn't about to give up on her. Now they have a destination they're trying to reach and a means to get food besides canned chicken livers, but are Kelsi and Chibs ready to hide more than they bargained for?





	1. Chapter 1

Chibs and I had been walking for God knew how long. I’d stopped counting. I stopped trying to keep track of the days. There wasn’t any point. Chibs clung intently to the idea that we’d find the others. I didn’t think we would. I didn’t know how we could possibly all find each other, stumbling around this mess of a forest while trying to avoid the walkers. Chibs continued to call them mice, but all I could think was that if that was how mice were now, I for damn sure wasn’t no owl.

Wandering was painful. I just wanted to lay down and die somewhere before the walkers got me. But I knew Chibs would never let me rest again if the thought got the chance to exit my mouth. So I stayed quiet and walked behind him as he picked his way through the forest.

I paused, feeling a set of eyes on me. I glanced over my shoulder, giving a half turn to scan the forest.

“What?” Chibs asked quietly.

“Somebody’s watchin’ us.” I told him, feeling like bugs were crawling on my skin.

“Whatcha mean, somebody’s watchin’ us?” He asked, coming close to my shoulder.

“Ya don’t feel the creep crawly feelin’?” I asked, looking up at him.

The way he stayed silent, watching the forest, I knew he had, he just hadn’t wanted to talk about it out loud. “Ya see ‘em?”

I shook my head, scanning the forest again. “We best find us some supplies.” I told him, watching the forest floor. “This way.” I told him, turning our course more to the east, towards a set of old foot prints.

Chibs followed silently. I didn’t think he knew what to do with me. He’d never seen this side of me before, the normal Dixon side of me. It was one of the reasons Daryl and I adapted better to this new lifestyle than other people had; we were already doin’ it before, it was just more intense this time around.

I carved us a path through the woods until we broke into a small clearing with a cabin. I paused for a minute. “Old moonshine cabin.” I murmured to Chibs. “If nothin’ else, we got booze.” I told him, picking slowly towards the cabin.

He helped me clear the cabin before I went searching. I told him I was fine and that he should search the cabin for anything useful. I went around back and found the goldmine in the form of clear liquid that could make you go blind if drank in large quantities. It’d also start a fire and run a tractor clean for a day. And since we didn’t have any tractors around, I only brought back one gallon jug, knowing this would last us more than the next three weeks, let alone the night.

“What’d ya find?” I asked Chibs upon entering the cabin.

There were three cans of soup and chili on the counter, which he gestured to before smiling like a fool. “Found me a can of chicken livers.”

I balked. “You can keep those, I get this.” I told him, setting the jug on an old rickety table.

Chibs grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at me. “I dunno ‘bout you, Kelsi love. But I’ve been alone a minute.”

I rolled my eyes. “Keep it in your pants, grandpa. You drink more than a couple ounces of this and you’ll be hearin’ colors. It’s to start the fire.”

Chibs looked good with the grin that seemed now plastered on his face. “Never heard a color before. Now’s a good a time as any.”

I shook my head. “Open those cans up. I’m gonna find us some firewood.” I told him, pulling the crow bar off my belt and swinging it around as I made my way for the door. I paused on the deck, watching the trees.

“Ya alright love?” I heard Chibs call.

Looking out at the forest felt… weird. Something wasn’t right and I couldn’t shake the feeling. I turned to look back at Chibs, watching me. “Do ya… do ya feel it?” I asked carefully.

He watched me for a moment, but nodded his head slowly. “Suppose it’s not good then.”

“Never is.” I told him, swinging the crow bar around as I stepped off the deck and headed into the trees in search of wood. 

It’d rained the last day and a half and I wasn’t much looking forward to smoking out the little house we had. Luckily, I found a whole arm load of firewood under the cover of some barely damp moss. The only hard part was hauling it back. If something came up on me, I’d be worse off to defend myself.

I settled for only grabbing as much as I could carry in one arm. This way, I still had the crow bar at the ready. I did this three other times. On my fourth time out to get my last load, a twig snapped and I held my breath, looking around.

About twenty yards out was a dead guy, in a suit and tie, missing an arm and most of his face. The walker groaned and snapped his teeth at me, the only things he knew how to do anymore. So I waited until he came closer, then I ran the crow bar through his head and gave a yank.

It was covered in brown blood and brain matter, but I flung it off into the bushes and did another scan. Nothing else among the trees but us.

I carried the last load of firewood in before Chibs and I settled on the old wood floor with our canned chili and chicken livers. We were quiet, only making a little noise. The fire was warm and there was food in my stomach; I felt like talking would ruin the second of normalcy we had been graced with.

“What ya miss most?” Chibs asked quietly after a few more minutes.

I looked up at him, not sure what he meant.

“From before. Sex? Coffee? Ice cream?” He asked with a little grin that made me consider if he’d been sipping on that shine or not.

“D, all of the above.” I said quietly, taking another bite of soup.

Chibs nodded. “Meh too. Never thought I’d make it this far.”

I shrugged. “I never thought I’d make it off that bridge. Guess we were both wrong.”

He smiled a little bit like he was happy with his current situation. “Suppose so.”

I didn’t have anything to add, nothing to say to enhance the conversation. I didn’t know if I wanted to talk, or scream, or kill something that wasn’t already dead. The numbness that washed over me was far more intense than anything I’d felt before. I could barely focus on anything but the fire.

“Ya changed after all this.” He spoke quietly and I felt like he was silently begging me to talk to him.

I shrugged, the constant hopeless feeling slowly creeping back into my body. “Everybody did, Chibs. Ain’t nobody the same as they was.”

“Ya know what I mean, lass.” He said.

I watched the fire for a long moment before I nodded. “Before, even after I left Juice…” I trailed off, trying to organize my thoughts. “I had a purpose; I knew my place and my reason for being there. Now…” I paused, wondering what I even was now. “Now, I don’t have a place, there’s no reason for me to be here other than the fact I somehow managed to not die while all of this happened.”

Chibs was silent and when I looked up at him, he was watching me closely.

“I can’t take the uncertainty.” I told him honestly, looking back at my chili. “If I knew that somewhere out in the world, someone managed to survive and thrive this way; that maybe the rest of us could…” I nodded to myself. “That’d give me enough to get rid of this hopelessness.”

Chibs nodded like he understood what I meant and we settled back into the quiet air of the Georgia night.

* * *

Waking up the next morning was odd. I woke slowly, and for a split second, moved my arm, seeking Juice on the other side of the bed. But gently, I was pulled back to reality. Juice wasn’t here and I wasn’t in a bed. Instead, I was laying on the floor, huddled in on myself, using an old rug as a pillow under my head.

The fire had gone out and our trash laid in the same spot it did the night before. I stood and moved towards the door way. Chibs was nowhere to be seen and I didn’t like the idea that he might have run off to do something on his own. He was all I had left.

After Kip died, I didn’t know how much more of this I could stand. And seeing Chibs absent from the cabin was definitely not a worry I wanted in the forefront of my mind first thing in the morning.

Something crackled in the forest and I wiped off a spot on the window to see if I could see through it. Other than a walker starting to amble towards the house, I didn’t see anything worth looking for. But I pulled open the door, looking out at the little deck for a minute before heading down the steps and towards the dead guy.

Landing the crow bar in his head wasn’t hard, but it was exhausting. I was tired of defending myself. I slumped back away from the corpse and glanced around the forest. Chibs stood almost fifty yards from me, into the forest. He had something in his hands and he looked engrossed in it.

I headed for him, making sure to keep watch since he obviously wasn’t. “Chibs, ya gonna get killed.” I told him in a harsh whisper.

“Look at this.” He told me, never moving from the spot to even look up.

“What’s so important you gotta die over?” I asked him angrily.

He had a smile on his face when I got to the point of being next to him. “Look.”

I looked down at what was in his hands. It was a torn piece of a map. In the center was a star, inside a hand drawn circle, with the word Terminus above it. “Sanctuary for all?” I asked quietly, reading what was written on it out loud.

Chibs smiled. I almost resented him for being so happy in these shitty situations when all I could do was want to cry. “Lass, this is it. We might survive.” He told me passionately.

I rolled my eyes. “Or we’ll end up like him.” I said, gesturing to the walker that had picked up our scent and was slowly angling towards us. It’d lost part of its foot, but that didn’t stop it from limping for all it was worth.

Chibs shook his head. “We’re strong lass. He ain’t.” He spoke to me, nodding his head as he pulled out a knife and sank it into the guy’s skull.

I looked back at the map in his hands, holding it for myself. 

“How nice would it be to be able to sit down without watchin’ yer back?” He asked softly. “Or to just lay and sleep without fear? God forbid they might have a shower.” Chibs spoke to me.

I gave a stifled laugh. “Of course you’d be thinkin’ ‘bout your looks.” I said quietly.

“We could survive; we could thrive.” He repeated, watching me carefully.

I looked hard at the map, then up at the forest around us. The birds chirped and flew overhead. The bugs buzzed and clicked everywhere you looked. The world had changed, but it somehow remained the same in this one aspect. Another glance at the map and I had already made up my mind.

“Alright.” I murmured.

He paused, watching me. “Whatcha mean, alright?”

“I mean alright. Let’s go. We don’t have another solid option right now.” I told him, glancing back around the forest, always watching for trouble.

“Ya serious, lass?” He asked.

“Look. This map follows the railroad. We passed one yesterday, remember? The map must’ve gotten free of wherever it was put up on and ended up out here. We’ll follow the railroad until we get close.” I told him, gesturing to the map.

Chibs smiled a little bit. “Ain’t lost ya yet.” He told me, putting his arm around my waist and walking us back to the shack.


	2. Chapter 2

Chibs and I aimed back for the railroad. It was odd, walking along the ties like we were just out for a stroll. I knew we’d probably never see a train run again in my lifetime and it was an odd feeling. Would Judith ever see a train up and running, the way we used to see all the time? Or an airplane? 

I thought it was funny how I was starting to miss all the things I’d taken for granted years ago. Trains, planes, not having to hunt for food constantly, having one house it was safe for you to stay in. I glanced at Chibs and wanted to know what he was thinking.

Did he think the same way I did? Did he miss the little things from before or was it just me? Did I just miss the easy life? I certainly wasn’t doing very well at surviving this one.

“Ya thinkin’ awful hard, lass.” Chibs said gently from beside me.

I nodded. “Tends to happen.”

“What about?” He asked.

“All the stuff we ain’t gonna see again.” I spoke softly, knowing loud noises attracted walkers and I didn’t want to have to fight anything off right now.

Chibs nodded like he’d been thinking the same thing. “It’s a hard life, but we’re made for it.”

I didn’t agree. I knew Chibs was. If nothing else, he was better off now than he was before. I didn’t know about myself though. I struggled every morning to get up and keep fighting. I didn’t have much of a reason left to.

Kip was dead. Hershel was dead. Juice was dead. Daryl and Rick could be dead for all I knew.

I paused. Daryl wasn’t dead. I knew that much. For as long as I could remember, Daryl and I had been the closest thing to the other person. He knew when I was sad, even when I didn’t speak about it and I knew when he was angry, even though he covered it well most of the time. Daryl and I had a connection that couldn’t be severed by time or distance, and my bones knew he was still alive.

At least I had that small comfort.

As the sun began its slow decent in the sky and the shadows of the world got a little longer, Chibs and I ducked off the railroad in search for a place to hole up for the night. I didn’t know how far we were from this Terminus place, but I knew we weren’t going to find it tonight.

We were barely half a mile from the tracks when we spotted a dilapidated barn, nearly falling in on itself. As we got closer, there was a series of moans from inside. I kicked the door and heard three different gurgling noises. I glanced back at Chibs, holding up three fingers to let him know. He nodded and gestured to the door, taking his fighting stance with the baseball bat he’d enjoyed carrying since we’d evacuated the prison.

I got a firm grip on the door and braced myself, taking a deep breath as I let the latch go and the door swung out. I shuffled back a few feet before landing the one closest to me in the head with the crowbar.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chibs bust in the head of one of them. Wait… Chibs took one out, I had taken one out. I heard a sickly groan at my feet and startled. The walker had no lower half, pulling its rotting corpse along on bony hands that had the fingers broken off a while ago. Jumping with a start made me catch my boot on a tree root, sending me onto my back. I reached for the crow bar, but it’d fallen a few feet from me.

I kicked at the walker wildly, enough that I could crawl to the crow bar and send it flying through the air down towards him, skimming the flattened part off the dead guy’s head. I hadn’t swung right and it hadn’t stopped him, only deterred him for a moment.

A grunt and the walker’s head collapsed under the baseball bat in Chibs’ hands. He was breathing as heavy as I was as he pushed his hair out of his face and held his hand out to me. I stood on shaky legs that threatened to cave in on me, but Chibs had no qualms with me leaning into him to support myself for this moment.

“Ya alright, lass? ‘e get ya?” He asked.

I shook my head, wiping my dirty hands on the legs of my pants. “Nah. Just caught me off guard. Thanks.”

He nodded, like there was no reason for me to be thanking me. “Look a bit pale, lass.”

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat, pushing away from him to stand on my own. “Thought I was done for. Never thought to check my feet. Guess that’ll teach me.” I told me with a strangled laugh.

“Don’t beat yourself up. The difference between you and them is that you’re human. They don’t got no mistakes to make.” Chibs told me, handing me back my crow bar.

I nodded. But a mistake could’ve cost me my life. Not that my life was worth a hell of a lot anymore, but I’d hate to go down because of some stupid mistake.

“C’mon lass. Let’s get inside. Dark’s comin’.” Chibs told me, setting his hand on the small of my back and urging me into the now empty barn.

I nodded again, moving into the closed off space. We latched the door from the inside and moved some bales of old hay in front of it. It wasn’t a big barricade, but it definitely wasn’t letting a dead thing in.

We made a kind of fort out of the old hay and straw bales, since we only had a blanket a piece out of each of our packs. I longed for a bed and soft blankets to curl up in, but I knew we’d probably never have that type of life again. More than a bed though, I wanted to hunt. I wanted a spear or a bow or a gun with a silencer. I wanted to eat warm meat and smile because of a full stomach.

“Whatcha thinkin’ of, love?” Chibs asked, letting me use his arm as a pillow as we laid down close to each other.

“Hunting.” I told him quietly.

“Yeah?” He asked.

I nodded against his arm. “At least if I was hunting, I could get rid of this nervous energy and we’d have food to eat; even if it was a possum or a coon.”

He smiled at me. “I like ya as a hick.” I rolled my eyes at him. “If ya wanna hunt, I’ll find ya somethin’, lass.”

“Thank you.” I told him, curling up close to his chest, relishing the warmth of another body next to mine. 

* * *

I woke slowly, my eyes fluttering open to see the first hints of light streaming in through the cracks in the barn. Chibs was asleep beside me, laying on his back. His lips moved in silent words that never left his vocal chords. I was glad he’d gotten a solid night of sleep. Laying on my back in the barn, listening to the slow, steady breaths Chibs took next to me made me feel like maybe the world outside the barn hadn't fallen apart. 

I pictured us waking up after a night of drinking. Maybe we’d gone out for a field party with another charter in California, but the cool fall air had forced us to take drunken shelter in the old barn that might fall in on us at any moment. Juice was away in Washington or Nevada, helping Clay with whatever he needed. Chibs and I had just ended up cuddling together to keep warm.

“Why so happy?” Chibs grunted beside me. “Dream of somebody makin’ sweet love to ya?”

I still smiled, taking in the moment for what it was, or what I had pretended it to be. “Leave it to you to turn a good moment into a sex joke.”

He smiled through his sleepy haze. “Somebody’s gotta.” He informed me, moving his arm from under my head to stretch and grunt.

“I was pretending we were back in California. We’d had a field party and ended up in a barn because it was cold. We’d both gotten drunk and cuddled together for warmth.” I told him, watching him wake up.

He groaned, folding his arm to cushion his head as he rested his eyes again, contemplating my words before nodding. “I can see it.”

“It feels normal for a second.” I told him quietly, turning to look back up at the roof of the old barn.

He yawned and nodded. “Those moments are good for ya.”

“I say we try to find something to hunt with. I’m starving.” I informed him quietly.

He nodded, eyes still shut. “Suppose so.”

I pushed myself out of the straw, brushing myself off. “Well, now’s a good a time as any.” I told him, pointlessly swinging the crow bar in my hands as I stretched and moved towards the door.

Chibs grunted and stood up, pulling on his jacket that he’d used as a pillow. “Aight, aight.” He mumbled. He moved the hay bales for me and pulled the door open as we scanned the clearing in front of the barn.

* * *

An hour of walking the train tracks led us to a small town which contained a handful of houses, a gas station, a little grocery store, and a movie rental shop. I took the grocery store as Chibs headed for the gas station.

In the store, I found a can of Vienna sausages, a six pack case of water, and a tube of chap stick. I applied the peppermint scented balm to my lips and smiled. It was the little things. I met back up with Chibs to discover he’d found more water and a can of tuna. I could live with that.

After a few moments of quiet discussion, we decided to search a few of the nearby houses to see if we could find anything to hunt with. I knew Chibs wasn’t good at hunting, but if I could find something to use, we were golden.

The first two houses were fruitless efforts, not even finding a can of dog food. My spirits dimmed as the third house only contained a tire iron and a gun with no bullets.

I knew Chibs could see my hope slowly diminishing. “One more house.” He almost begged.

“Why? We got nothin’ worth a damn.” I told him. “Let’s go eat some tuna.”

He gave his head a firm shake. “One more house, lass. I can feel it in my bones.”

I sighed deeply, but humored him, moving behind him as we cleared the house before we started our normal search grid.

“Kelsi!” Chibs hollered.

I panicked, fearing the worst. 

He’d stepped on a nail and a walker was after him. He was surrounded with no way of escape. His trusty baseball bat broke and he had no weapon.

I busted in the garage, worry and fear covering me like a cold blanket. But there Chibs stood, smiling. “This’ll do, lass?” It took me a second to register that he was holding up a compound bow. It was a midgrade bow, and despite how long it’d been sitting here, the string didn’t look too bad and the limbs weren’t falling apart.

“I thought you were dyin’.” I told him, relaxing my posture.

He still grinned. “Sorry lass.” Although I could very well tell he was not. But he held the bow out to me and I took it gingerly. Before I could ask, he held out four arrows in a hip quiver. It wasn’t a lot, but it was a start.

I took one of the arrows from the quiver, nocking it into place. I searched for something to shoot at and settled for a picture of a half-naked girl on the other side of the garage, maybe five yards away. I drew the bow back with a little bit of difficulty and used the top pin of the four pin sight. The poundage was damn near sixty pounds. I let go of the string and the arrow found its way a little higher than I aimed. Other than my shoulder creaking from the sudden pressure and type of movement it hadn't felt in a while, I wasn’t gonna complain.

I gave Chibs a smile. “We havin’ possum for dinner tonight.”

He gave a short hoot before helping me search through the garage for the tools I needed to adjust the sight and the poundage.


	3. Chapter 3

By breakfast the next morning, Chibs and I had feasted on rabbit, squirrel and coon, all over a nice little camp fire he built while I went hunting. It was nice to have a full meal in my stomach and the clarity it brought. We continued to follow the train tracks, finding more signs and maps that marked the location of Terminus. 

The closer we got, the more excited Chibs got. I still had my doubts, but I kept them to myself, not wanting to ruin the only hope the poor man had since we lost the prison. He moved excitedly in front of me, although I watched as he scanned the area as we walked. He was better at this life then I was. I wanted to crawl into a hole and not wake up, and Chibs beamed at the thought of a shower and a bed.

I was glad we’d found the bow though. It was a comfort to have a little more protection then we’d had the day before. And I felt like I wasn’t so apart from the world. With this, I was a step closer to being who I was before.

And so we walked on. I’d given up dreading it, now accepting this was how we had to travel for the time being. We followed the railroad for the rest of the day and by the time we only had a couple hours of day light left, we found it. 

It was an old warehouse looking building with chain link fence all the way around it. There was something about this whole thing that made me uncomfortable. I shifted my weight and looked around.

“What is it?” Chibs asked, looking after me.

“I don’t know. Feels wrong.” I told him, chewing on my lip.

“Well then, let’s not go in the front. We’ll go around the back.” He told me with a nod, hefting the baseball bat to sit on his shoulder.

I nodded, turning and leading the way around the fence. It was slow, because we didn’t want to be making a lot of noise, trampling through the underbrush. We came to a spot in the fence that didn’t have barbed wire around the top and I told Chibs this was probably as good as it was gonna get. He offered to give me a boost, but I told him to keep a lookout while I hauled myself over. It was a struggle and my muscles groaned, but Chibs handed the bow over to me when I got on the other side and I scanned the area inside and outside the fence. Right now, I didn’t know which side I needed to be concerned for most.

Chibs landed next to me, holding onto the bat and moving his pistol so he could get to it easily. He nodded to me and we headed for the building, scanning as we went. We moved around the building, staying close to it until it ended and another building close to it gave us shade.

I had butterflies knocking around in my stomach, telling me this was wrong and we weren’t supposed to be here.

We found a propped open window and Chibs was going to sneak a peek until we heard voices, making us pause. “Who are we gonna eat first?”

 “Doesn’t matter, you idiot. Just cut it up.” Another masculine voice said.

I tilted my head, looking at Chibs to see if I heard the guy inside wrong.

The look of horror on his face told me he’d heard what I heard.

“I don’t know, man. I think the ninja is gonna taste pretty good.” The first voice said.

I had to cover my mouth to stop from gasping. Was he talking about Michonne?

“Fuck the ninja. The kids always taste the best. That baby is gonna be delicious.” The second guy spoke.

Chibs looked faint, glancing at me like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. I moved closer to the window, trying to get a look inside.

“Are you idiots done yet? We’ve got five waiting to be drained, five more in the train car and you’re still cutting up the last people?” A meaner voice said, banging the door as he came into the room.

He was tall with dull brown hair and a maniac gleam in his eyes.

“We’re working as fast as we can.” The second meat cutter defended.

“Well work faster.” The new man said. Something sounded off in the distance, from behind the building. “What was that?”

“Probably just Tim, shooting a deader.” One of the meat cutters said.

Suddenly, there was an explosion that rocked the ground and Chibs and I clung to each other as everything around us quaked, nearly knocking me to my feet.

“C’mon lass.” Chibs told me sternly, moving to the end of the building as things settled, down the way we had come in. People ran out of the buildings, looking for the source of the explosion. Our quickest way out was past the two buildings we’d come from before, but suddenly, men with guns ran out of both buildings and we were forced back down the alley we were in to stay hidden.

“Dammit.” He cursed silently.

“Hey.” I told him, making him look at me. “I don’t care what happens next, I love ya. Know that.”

He looked worried. “We’ll make it out.”

“If we don’t, I love ya.” I told him sternly, making sure he understood.

He nodded once, before turning away from me. The alley let out at the other end and we quickly made our way to it. We could try to circle around the buildings from this side, but this end of the alley let out into the main courtyard. People were shooting people and people were screaming, everyone running around. 

Across the courtyard and to the right was a building that had tools it in, like a gardening shed. I could see shears and cutters hanging on the wall.

“Across the yard, to the right, garden shed.” I said, nudging Chibs.

“What about it?” He asked, narrowing his eyes.

“If I can get something to cut the fence open with, we won’t have to worry about jumping it and we can flood the place with walkers.” I told him.

He only took a moment to consider it. “I’ll cover ya. Five minutes and I’m after ya.”

I nodded, nocking an arrow and taking a deep breath. I only had four arrows and I didn’t want to lose any if I could help it, but I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to use it. I took another breath and surged out of the alley, ducking the gunfire and aiming for the shed. I heard Chibs pop off a few rounds behind me.

The door was open and once inside, the walls muffled the sound of the guns and the people screaming. I franticly searched the wall. I knew that chain link wasn’t easy to get around, but I needed something bigger than wire cutters. 

A pair of bolt cutters hung on the wall and I smiled, reaching for them.

“Bitch, don’t even think about it.”

My breath got caught in my throat as my fingers were inches from the cutters and a slow glance over my shoulder showed one of the meat cutters with a gun and an angry expression.

“Put the bow down and move away from it.” He told me.

I looked back at the work bench in front of me. It was littered with screw drivers and hammers, like nobody had thought to put them away. Slowly, I set the bow down.

“Good girl. Move away.” He told me.

I slowly picked up a hammer as I took a step away from the bow and turned, throwing it at him. It hit him in the shoulder, knocking the gun from his hands as he cursed. He recovered faster than I did; charging me and knocking me back into the table. His hands went around my throat and I flashed back to before the walkers took over, before I met the bikers.

Panic flooded my system as his grip tightened and I knew he meant to kill me like this. I sputtered, trying desperately to get a breath as I reached franticly for something on the table. We’d jostled all the tools when he’d thrown me into it.

Slowly, my fingers closed around something and I threw it at his head. The rubber mallet made contact and he screamed, moving away from me. I quickly reached for the long screwdriver and turned to see him watching me angrily.

“You little bitch. I was just going to kill you before. Now I’m gonna make it hurt.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” I told him.

He moved at me, barely slower than last time, but I was prepared this time. I kicked him in the gut, making him double over before I slammed the screwdriver down, throwing all my weight into it. He went limp, collapsing on the floor under me. I laid there for a moment, making sure he wasn’t going to move.

I slowly stood on shaky legs that didn’t want to hold my weight. I wiped the sweat off my forehead before remembering my task. I strung the bow across my shoulders, picked up an axe and the bolt cutters and ran out the door.

Chibs looked relieved as he saw me break cover, running straight for him. Through the gunfire, I felt a sting in my side and grunted, wondering how the meat cutter had gotten me. But I fell beside Chibs in the alley and gasped in air.

“C’mon. We need outta here.” Chibs told me.

I nodded, heading back out the alley. The side of the fence we came in on was deserted now and I told Chibs to keep watch while I went to work on the fence. It didn’t take long before there was a human sized hole. I climbed through and Chibs followed. I left the bolt cutters, knowing they weren’t worth the effort of trying to drag around. 

The bow bounced against my back as we ran back into the forest, looking for cover. I hoped and prayed Daryl hadn’t been caught in all of that, and if he had, I prayed he made it out alive.

“Kelsi.” Chibs said from behind me, making me slow.

I froze, looking at him. He was facing to my right, listening like he heard something. Hushed voices spoke and then there was some rustling. 

He tapped me and moved quietly closer to them. We moved up behind a tree, well enough away that we could run if we needed to. Glancing out, I saw Daryl with a hell of a shiner, hugging tightly to Carol in front of a group of people. My heart ached and I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding, feeling so relieved.

“Juice.”

I looked at Chibs, hearing the word uttered in amazement. What was he talking about? Juice was dead… wasn’t he? But Chibs stood there with his mouth ajar.

I looked back at the group, taking stalk of them all. Rick, Michonne, Carl, Judith, Glenn, Maggie, and some new faces I didn’t recognize. But there in the back of the group, under the shade of an oak tree, was a dark skinned man, looking on guard. His hair had grown in, covering up the scalp tattoos on his head, but his face was the same as it had been before.

I gasped, not being able to stop myself. The whole group turned to our tree and I quickly moved out from the cover of it so they could see my face. Daryl ran at me, hugging me tightly. I relished it for a moment before I pulled away from him, still watching the Puerto Rican in the back of the group who hadn’t seen me yet.

“What?” Daryl asked, suddenly worried.

The man’s face turned to me and he watched me carefully before moving closer to me. His mouth opened, wanting to say something before he closed it.

“Juice.” Chibs said again and his eyes fell on Chibs, his mouth falling open.

“Kelsi?” He asked quietly, looking back at me like he didn’t want to be wrong.

I broke from Daryl, running to him and holding him tightly. His arms moved around me like he never wanted to let me go and I felt my eyes water. “I can’t believe you’re alive.” I choked out.

“I thought… I thought I’d never see you again.” His words were as choked as mine. “You’re bleeding.”

I looked down at the wound on my side, slowly leaking. It was barely a scratch, but I knew it looked bad. I must’ve been nicked by a bullet.

“Guys, we need to get out of here.” Rick told us, making Juice and I pull apart.

I nodded, wiping my face. Chibs tapped me on the shoulder, handing me back the axe I’d let fall. “Thanks.” I said quietly as Rick started moving us through the forest.

I didn’t want to stray too far from Juice, thinking he might disappear when I wasn’t looking. I didn’t know if I could handle losing him again. We didn’t talk as we hiked through the forest, looking for a safe place to spend the night. I wanted to know how he’d made it out, how he’d gotten to this point, but I knew I couldn’t just ask. 

My brain kept informing me that I’d left. I was the one that had gone away and left him, and the only reason him or the other guys were out here, was because of me and I was painfully aware of that fact. So we walked on in silence, killing the walkers that wandered too close, moving away from the slow ones that couldn’t catch up.

After dusk drew closer and closer, we decided to make camp. We all did our part in setting it up and by the time we sat down around the fire, nobody was talking. All of us had experienced today differently and I didn’t know if I was strong enough to break the silence of the group.

I sat between Daryl and Juice. I knew Daryl hadn’t recognized Juice with his hair grown in. He’d only recognized Chibs because of his scars, I was sure. I ate my beans quietly, silently wishing I had rice to go with it.

“You cut your hair.” Juice’s voice sounded loud against the silence, but he barely spoke above a whisper.

I couldn’t help but smirk. “You let yours grow out.”

“Well, I was hard pressed to find a razor while I was running for my life.” He told me.

I nodded, ducking my head. I didn’t know what to say to him, other than an apology that couldn’t make it past my lips.

His fingers set gently under my chin, making me look at him. I thought after all this time without another person’s touch, I’d cringe away from it, regress back into old habits. But I relished the feeling of him as I looked up at those brown eyes. He smiled at me and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen it. “You survived.”

“I did my best.” I told him quietly.

“You’re what kept me going.” He told me.

I watched him for a moment. “What do you mean?”

He grinned in true Juice fashion. “I knew you’d survive, so I told myself I had to, if nothing else for you. I had to make it back to you.”

“But I left you. Why would you want to come back to me?” I asked, needing this question to be settled in my mind.

“After the world ended, Happy told me why you left, because Gemma ran you off. I’m the reason we’re down here. I went looking for you and the other guys followed.” He told me.

“They were at the prison with us, before it got taken. After it fell, we all scattered. Chibs and I made it out alone. I don’t know what happened to the other guys… But…” I bit my lip. “Kip… He didn’t… He didn’t…” I started to shutter out, feeling my eyes well up.

Juice pulled me into a hug. “He was a good man. He didn’t deserve that.” Juice said, verbalizing my own thoughts.

I nodded, pulling back from him and wiping my eyes. “He was the kind of good we needed now.”

Juice nodded, looking back at the fire. We sat there quietly for a moment before Glenn moved to sit next to us. “So you found your husband.” He told me quietly.

I smiled at him, ducking my head and looking back up at Juice. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

“What’d she tell you?” Juice asked Glenn.

“You were the only man that didn’t hurt her.” Glenn told him with a smile.

Juice gave a choked kind of laugh, looking at Glenn for a minute. “I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

We sat there, quietly talking about life before the world ended and for a moment, I felt happy. All the thoughts I’d had since we lost the prison vanished and I knew if Juice could survive to get back to me, I could live this new life the best way I knew how. If Juice could survive for me, then I’d keep surviving for him.


End file.
